Third Culture Kids
Thanks to 'dreaming-neko' and 'anonymous' for their comments on my previous post.
A Third Culture Kid is:
full information here
Unfortunately, I have not been able to many people of a similar background to me, because even though some share the same background, the countries they have lived in will have been entirely different! The ones that did share *some* of the same countries tend to be rare, because my dad chose some pretty obscure countries to live in!
Also, a factor is that most often, those who've been uprooted like me haven't had a 'multicultural setting' within the home, too. As I recall, in all of the int'l schools I've been to, I've generally been the only 'mixed' person in my class.
And strangely enough, it seems that the people I've identified most with are people of South-Asian backgrounds! Strange, but true, considering I've never lived in a South Asian country and only passed through the airport in India, and spent three days in transit in Pakistan!
Apparently, though, my mom was first alerted in a dream to my 'presence' in her tummy whilst in Bangladesh... So perhaps I exist as a result of a transmigration of consciousness from a Bangladeshi to my mother's womb. Who knows?
*****
Ok, that aside...
Today is Tenzing's birthday... so HAPPY BIRTHDAY GURKHA!!!
A couple of the pictures below are from his party on Saturday the 22nd, whilst the other three are from the dinner we just had tonight as the "True Friends Squad" (Tenzing's idea - stands for T.F.S can also stand for Tenzing Fon Sarinda!)
Me and Sarinda decided to get him a dogtag engraved with "True Friends Squad - Tenzing Fon Sarinda". We hid it in a box of skittles and pretended like that was our birthday present to him! It was good... we had a laugh!
*****
It was also Noreen's birthday yesterday... I wished her early at Tenzing's party, then wished her again today, a day late! Ooops... Forgot to wish her yesterday! Noreen was staying on our couch for over a month before she finally found a place to stay - poor girl! Had to travel so far to get to Swinburne University every morning!
Anyhow, Happy Birthday (belated!)!
It was also Nora's birthday last Sunday (a week ago - had an interesting time together - won't be going out for that wild a time out again for a long time!!) She's "third culture kid" like me, and shares my Finnish half... she seems to be just as uprooted as I am, and that's definitely something we have in common...
*****
Finally, because I haven't blogged in a while, I'd like to thank everyone who made it to my party the Saturday before last! We definitely had a blast... but now it's definitely time to settle back into uni-life and stress after a hectic (yet relaxing!) Easter break!
A Third Culture Kid is:
"[A] person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents' culture. The third culture kid builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the third culture kid's life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of the same background." (Pollock & van Reken, 2001, p. 19)
full information here
Unfortunately, I have not been able to many people of a similar background to me, because even though some share the same background, the countries they have lived in will have been entirely different! The ones that did share *some* of the same countries tend to be rare, because my dad chose some pretty obscure countries to live in!
Also, a factor is that most often, those who've been uprooted like me haven't had a 'multicultural setting' within the home, too. As I recall, in all of the int'l schools I've been to, I've generally been the only 'mixed' person in my class.
And strangely enough, it seems that the people I've identified most with are people of South-Asian backgrounds! Strange, but true, considering I've never lived in a South Asian country and only passed through the airport in India, and spent three days in transit in Pakistan!
Apparently, though, my mom was first alerted in a dream to my 'presence' in her tummy whilst in Bangladesh... So perhaps I exist as a result of a transmigration of consciousness from a Bangladeshi to my mother's womb. Who knows?
*****
Ok, that aside...
Today is Tenzing's birthday... so HAPPY BIRTHDAY GURKHA!!!
A couple of the pictures below are from his party on Saturday the 22nd, whilst the other three are from the dinner we just had tonight as the "True Friends Squad" (Tenzing's idea - stands for T.F.S can also stand for Tenzing Fon Sarinda!)
Me and Sarinda decided to get him a dogtag engraved with "True Friends Squad - Tenzing Fon Sarinda". We hid it in a box of skittles and pretended like that was our birthday present to him! It was good... we had a laugh!
*****
It was also Noreen's birthday yesterday... I wished her early at Tenzing's party, then wished her again today, a day late! Ooops... Forgot to wish her yesterday! Noreen was staying on our couch for over a month before she finally found a place to stay - poor girl! Had to travel so far to get to Swinburne University every morning!
Anyhow, Happy Birthday (belated!)!
It was also Nora's birthday last Sunday (a week ago - had an interesting time together - won't be going out for that wild a time out again for a long time!!) She's "third culture kid" like me, and shares my Finnish half... she seems to be just as uprooted as I am, and that's definitely something we have in common...
*****
Finally, because I haven't blogged in a while, I'd like to thank everyone who made it to my party the Saturday before last! We definitely had a blast... but now it's definitely time to settle back into uni-life and stress after a hectic (yet relaxing!) Easter break!
